Just as it was last week, as I look out
my office window all I see is snow. Last
night as I was heading over to one of the nursing homes with our church’s Cub
Scout Pack for some Christmas caroling, the clouds opened up again and dumped
some more of the white stuff on us.
Apparently, though, the forecast for this weekend is for 50’s and 60’s,
but with torrential downpours. Weather-wise
we can’t win for losing around here.
Either the steps are icy despite Larry’s best efforts, the sanctuary too
hot in the summer no matter how hard the chiller is working, or there’s water
pouring into the food pantry. Woe is us,
right? Well, this week I got a little
perspective when I came across a photo of Holy Trinity Eastern Orthodox Church
in… Antarctica!
 |
| Trinity Church |
Trinity Church captivated me. It is quite obviously the southernmost Eastern
Orthodox Church in the world, its parish being the workers at a nearby Russian
research station. The structure, which
opened for worship in 2004, is built of lumber shipped in from Siberia and
there are thick chains and cables in the sanctuary that help to stabilize the
building in extreme weather. The
sanctuary can hold thirty people and it is manned by two Eastern Orthodox
priests, usually for a year at a time.
Two couples have even been married there. You can learn about one of the couples by
watching the following video.
How interesting is that! Well, it gets better, because in researching
Trinity Church I found out that it is not the only church on Antarctica. There is somewhere around ten churches on
Antarctica! Among those churches is the
Chapel of the Snows, which is a U.S. military chapel at the McMurdo Station,
offering both Catholic and Protestant worship.
This is the third building they’ve had since 1966. The other two burned down. There is the tiny steel St. Ivan Rilski
Chapel, built on Livingston Island by Bulgarians, as well as the Notre-Dame
des Vents Chapel, a French Catholic chapel at Port aux-Francais,
and the Stella-Maris Chapel, which I believe is a Chilean Catholic Chapel on
Cape Horn Island. The most interesting
church building is probably that of the Chapel of Santisima Virgen de Lujan, which is
Argentine Catholic. The frame is steel
but the walls are made of ice! I should
never complain about my feet being cold in my office again. My vote for the most picturesque church
building in Antarctica goes to the Norwegian Lutheran church in Grytviken,
which has been there since 1912! It is
nicknamed The Whaler’s Church. Here are some pictures of the various church buildings:
 |
| Chapel of the Snows |
 |
| Stained Glass in Chapel of the Snows. Notice the penguin. |
 |
| Stella-Harris Chapel |
 |
| My favorite: the "Whaler's Church" |
 |
| The ice walls of the Chapel of Santisima Virgen de Lujan |
 |
| A wedding in the Notre-Dame des Vents Chapel. |
While it is interesting to learn about these churches and to
see their church buildings, there is something much deeper that we need to see
here. When Jesus told his disciples, "For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them," he really meant it.
That goes for Jerusalem, for Rome, for the slums of Brazil, for the
hollers of West Virginia, and yes, even for Antarctica. It also shows us that when the Risen Jesus
said, “you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will
be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of
the earth," he meant that too.
On a
blog post by a writer named Brian Merchant I read, “We humans have gone to
great lengths to build churches, mostly Catholic ones, in the most unforgiving
climates on Earth. First came the expeditions, then the research institutions,
then the churches. It's got to be a powerful comfort: the familiar idols, the
symbology, the rituals, and the architecture, even for nonbelievers, when it's
freezing, and comfort is otherwise elusive… Progress has done little to
diminish our faith—secularization has unfolded much more slowly than the
techno-optimists once thought. Which is why it's quite likely that one of the first
structures humans will build on the moon—after the domiciles, after the research
station, will be a church.”
I’m
going to ask you to do something today, right now actually, that you never
thought you’d ever be asked to do.
Stop. Right now. Be quiet for a moment. Then pray for the Christians in Antarctica,
that their faith would sustain them and even grow. Pray for the priests and pastors in
Antarctica, that they would have the wisdom and faith to minister in such
unique and extreme conditions. And pray
for those in Antarctica who do not have faith in Jesus Christ. Pray that even though their toes are frozen
that their hearts would be thawed so they might hear the gospel of Jesus Christ
and respond with trust in God’s grace and mercy. What an interesting testimony that would be—“I
was thousands of miles away from everything in Antarctica.
But Jesus still found me there.”
I mean it. Pray for them. I’m pretty sure they need the prayers.
May
the hope, peace, joy, and love of God in Jesus Christ bless you in these last
days of Advent. Christmas is almost
here. Try not to freak out about
that. If you keep your eyes not on all you have left to do, but instead on Jesus, you'll be okay... even if you're in Antarctica.
Be at peace,
Be at peace,
Everett
